


A Touch of Winter

by EmpressGeek



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Hydra, Marvel - Freeform, Mutant, Other, SHIELD, Tags May Change, life change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27883849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressGeek/pseuds/EmpressGeek
Summary: "I don't know"................................................................................."Do you even remember her?"......................................."I lost my daughter, Stark I won't lose my granddaughter."...................................................."If I touch people they could die."......................................................."I should have stayed.".............................................................."You can't change what happened."......................................................................................"You're nothing but a glove-wearing freak whose eyes couldn't even match."............................................................................................................"Why do you like me James?"..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................."I still remember the machine flat-lining."
Relationships: Father/Daughter - Relationship, Friendship - Relationship, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 1





	1. My Sucky Life

I was running through a snow filled field. I recognized my Grandpa's farm land, even when blanketed in its winter coat. I heard my mother's laughter, as she set the sled on a homemade snow ramp. Her long dark hair shimmering in the cold sunlight, as she helped me climb on to the sled. 

"You ready?" she asked.

I nodded eagerly. She gave the sled a small push. I road down the sugary white slopes. Cold frosty wind nipped at my nose and ears, but I didn't feel it. The world flew by me. Then it flew into me. A white fluffy explosion of snow happened as I hit a large drift.

"North! Northern!" My mother shouted as she ran towards me.

"I'm fine mommy." I squeaked as she pulled me into a tight embrace and brushed the snow off me. 

"That's good." She lifted me into her arms and cradled me close. "I think that's enough sledding for today. How do you feel about some hot chocolate?"

"YAY!" I squealed. My mother giggled, as she grabbed the sled. She began to walk towards Grandpa's farm house, me in her arms and the sled dragging behind her.

Before we got to the house my mother stopped and turned to her right. On the horizon a dark figure was walking towards us. I couldn't see them very well. My mother froze. I felt her body tense. Her joyful smile quickly turned to a glare of concern.

"Stop where you are! Put your hands where I can see them!" She shouted.

The figure froze, and slowly raised his hands. My mother's face suddenly flashed with recognition.

"My gosh! Did you have to sneak up on us?!" her tone was loud, but it was clear that she had already forgiven him.

I stared at him, then I realized. My mother let me down and I ran towards him, "DADDY!"

Suddenly, loud beeping began to rang around me.

________________________________________________________________________________

"NORTHERN! GET UP AND TURN OFF THAT ALARM!"

My eyes snapped open, seeing the white ceiling of my bedroom. My ears screamed at the infuriating sound of the small demonic grey box, that was my alarm clock. Why do I have to get up at 6:30 every morning? 

"NORTHERN! COME ON GET UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" shouted annoyed voice that could only be my Aunt Jet. 

I groaned and slammed my pillow onto my face. I hate mornings. Not just because it means I have to go to school, and everything else I have to deal with while being awake. It's because I can't go back to sleep and finish my dream. I get the winter wonderland one often, but every time I wake up before I can get close enough to see my father's face. It gets annoying after a few times. 

I turned off the demon box and headed to the bathroom across the hall. I wash my face. Staring into the mirror, I take note of all the things that I hate about my face. 1) All of my freckles. My skin is fair like fresh milk, but I might as well be a strawberry, with all my freckles. 2) My dark eyebrows. I have to constantly pick at them to keep them from becoming a unibrow. 3) My eyes. They're different colors; one a light hazel with flashes of dark green and gold, while the other is a cold icy blue. 

I sighed deeply, and grabbed my toothpaste. It might be embarrassing for other people my age to use toothpaste made for little kids, but mint makes my mouth burn, so I rather have the weird artificial sugary flavors that younger kids get. 

With whatever I have to do in the bathroom being done. I walked back to into my room to get dressed. A pair of dark skinny jeans, a reverse tie-dye, long-sleeve, shirt, and a pair of black velvet gloves are yanked out of my closet. I slipped out of the loose tank-top and small pajama shorts, before very carefully taking off the pair of long white gloves I wore to bed and tried not to touch anything. However, being the klutz that I am, I drop the black glove I was trying to put on. I lean down and pick up off the floor, but I accidently graze my hand on the floor, causing it to frost over. Drat! I quickly slipped on the black gloves and finished getting dressed before grabbing my hair brush. 

Yes! I'm a mutant, for those of you who couldn't guess. Grandpa, and my aunts and uncles are ones too, so I'm not completely untrained, but I still have to wear the gloves for people's safety. It was either them or a power dampener, and I prefer not being able to touch things over being dizzy and extremely tired all day. My powers include being able to freeze things, resistance to cold, and having a colder then average body temperature. I'm basically Elsa, if she had chocolate colored hair with purple high-lights and Heterochromia iridium. 

I stop brushing, and glare at my hair in the large mirror I have on my bedroom wall. No matter what I did it always looked like a mess when it was down, so I usually clipped it up or wore it in a braid. This morning I felt lazy so I just clipped it up and put a scrunchy on my wrist for later. I know that scrunchies are ancient and uncool but there just so useful. 

"Northern, breakfast!" I hear my aunt shout.

I slip out of my room and into the white hallway. Walking past old pictures that had been there all my life. Before finally skipping down the stairs that looked like ice-cream sandwiches, into the joint kitchen and living room. Grandpa and Uncle Shaw were sitting on the couch watching T.V while, my Aunt Jet, was cooking breakfast. I had other Uncles and Aunts, besides Aunt Jet and Uncle Shaw. Grandpa had six kids including my mother, and over half of them were now married. However, due to work reasons only a few of them would be in the house at one time. 

"Good Morning, Northy!" My Grandpa Cheered, he'd always call me that. "Come over here and give me a hug."

Grandpa was a large, teddy bear of a man. He was a big goofball, that never ran out of energy. He was still a kid at heart. His greying hair was barely a centimeter long; he'd always shaved it short. He was my mother's father for clarification; I never met my father's side.

I quickly went over to him and was nearly crushed by his grandfatherly love. I couldn't really blame him though. Out of six kids I was his only grandbaby. Though most of them were married, quite a few, like Aunt Jet, decided that they didn't want kids, or kids just haven't happened yet.

"Hey kiddo!" Uncle Shaw said as he ruffled my hair. Making me need to reclip it. 

Uncle Shaw was a strong muscular young man, who had Grandpa's personality. He had dark hair similar to mine, just short and wavy; it always reminded me of a anime boy's. His eyes were hazel like one of mine.

"You two stop messing with her. She needs to eat." Aunt Jet chimed in as she placed my breakfast on the kitchen's bar.

Aunt Jet was a tough strong woman, who had some what of a short fuse; especially when her wife was away on work. She had dark skin, that was covered in tattoos. Her eyes were golden and her hair was dark, with golden streaks, styled in a tough looking pixie cut. If you wondering, yes, she was adopted, but it never mattered to Grandpa.

I quickly obeyed her, and ate my breakfast, not wanting to angry her more then she already was.

"You got ten minutes, then grab your stuff and a jacket." Aunt Jet ordered.

"I don't need a jacket. Cold doesn't bother me." I said.

"I know, but you have to keep up the appearance of a normal teenaged girl. You know how dangerous it is to exposé your powers."

I just sighed. I know that I could hurt people with my powers and could be easily turned into a weapon, but I honestly don't know why my family is so worried about people of power, like Tony Stark, finding out about me. What would they want with a 14-year-old human ice maker?

________________________________________________________________________________

I'm standing outside of the building of torment, School. I dreaded going in, not because of the classes, homework, or even the semester projects, but because of the human specimens, that inhabited it. The teachers aren't so bad, even the Gym instructor, Coach Cummings, who will allow me to wear my gloves in class, because he thinks I have medical condition; which, I kind of do. It's the younger specimens we call classmates that are the problem. 

I hate walking through the crowded halls before classes start. The borders of my bubble of personal space are constantly being crossed. I don't like people being to close to me as I don't want to accidently give anyone the 'Captain America' treatment. The constant chatter of the people around me overwhelmed my ears. It made me uncomfortable. I quickly made it my locker without hurting anyone and started getting the books I need for the first couple hours of school. 

Suddenly, the crazy chit-chat of the normal kids, hushed as HE walked through the entrance doors. My eyes fell on to a boy around my age that had fiery red hair, and dreamy ocean blue eyes that would make any girl, other then me, swoon. James Rogers. Is there anything else I need to say? He the son of Steve Rogers A.K.A Captain America. Yes, the Captain America, a war hero and an Avenger. The moment the knowledge of his heritage touch the school he became Captain Popularity. The guy everyone wanted to be close too. I lived in a house where almost everyone had a chance at the superhero thing, so his dad, isn't really a big deal for me. Of course I can't tell the other kids that.

James waved good bye to the crowd of adoring fans, and headed over to his locker. The others would leave him alone for a few moment before each class to let him 'focus'. Guess who was his next-door-locker-neighbor.

"Hey, Northern," he said to me. 

"Hey James," I replied. He may be the talk of the school, but he's not brat and I never said I hated him. I'm fine with him talking to me as long as he doesn't involve me with the popular kids stuff. I'm here to learn, not for drama. 

"So, how was your morning?" he asked.

"Same old, same old."

"Yeah, I feel that. The world wasn't ending so the normal routine. Training with mom at 5:30 while dad made breakfast."

"I know your trying to relate to me, but you should just stop trying. We're not similar." I looked at him to find him staring at me. "I'm sorry... I"

"No don't apologize. This is why I like talking to you North, you're honest. See you later." He grabbed his books and left.

Me honest? If only he knew, the skeletons I had in my closet. No, I haven't told him about my powers. I've barely told anyone. Like I said, I just focus on my grades and try not to freeze anyone to death.

________________________________________________________________________________

Lunch, the easiest part of my day, if I'm left alone. I walked over to a part of the cafeteria away from everyone else, and sat at a table by myself. I would completely skip the line, and eat the lunch I packed. I can't stand cafeteria food. It's always something unhealthy or something disgusting that they try to pass off as healthy. I'll take my P.B.M.S (peanut butter and maple syrup) over whatever they're serving. 

If you haven't caught on by now, I usually eat alone, but I don't mind. I never really had all that much in common with other kids. The girls were always obsessing over something and talking in voices so squeaky that they could make someone deaf. I would either get lost in their conversations or bored with them. The boys had more entertaining conversations and ones that I could follow, but I couldn't stick around long as they didn't want a 'sissy girl' sitting with them.

"Hey, this seat taken?"

I looked up and saw Cally Dickson. Cally was a geeky girl, that had pink harry potter glasses framing her bright blue eyes. She had frizzy carrot orange hair on her head, and even more freckles then me. She was also the only person in the whole world that I would consider a friend, with the exception of Grandpa, of course.

"No, it's free."

"Great!" she took a seat next to me and took out her own lunch. "So, how's your life?"

"It's fine. My Aunt Jet has had her pants in a twist lately but it's not the worst thing on the planet. How's your Mom?"

"She's fine," I could tell by her face that she was lying. She opened up her water bottle, and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad for got to put ice in it." She looked at me, with wishful eyes.

"No, Cally. I don't want to get Aunt Jet even more ticked then she is." Yes Cally knew about my powers. I knew she could keep the secret. Her mom was a mutant herself after all. Cally however didn't inherit any powers from her. 

"Please, you know it's hard for me to drink warm water and didn't your grandpa say your powers were for helping people."

"Helping people only if their lives are in danger. Besides I can't risk losing control. If there's one rule that Grandpa has it's don't risk losing control." 

"Man, you really are paranoid about this aren't you?"

"I could kill some one Cally. If I touch people they could die. I could freeze the blood in their veins, turn their eyes into frozen marbles, turn their limps black. I don't want to see that happen." 

"Wow, that was dark...and specific."

I laughed at her, she was one of the few people who could do that. Make me laugh.

"So, what's in your lunch?" she asked.

"The usual. A P.B.M.S. What did you get?"

"Pickles and cream cheese on Rye."

"Cally your tongue is amazing." 

She laughed.

"Now what's wrong with your mom?" If there was something wrong then she needed to tell me. Her mom could see the future in sudden flashes. Whether that be in dreams or hallucinations. 

"Is it that obvious?"

"You need to tell me Cally."

She looked around and leaned closer. "Mom, had a nightmare." 

This is what I didn't want to hear. Her Mom's flashes may come at random but they were accurate, and a nightmare was usually a signal of something bad. "What happened?"

"It was vague." she began, another bad sign. "She said it started with smoke, and rubble was everywhere. She said she heard voices but she couldn't make out what they were saying."

"Ok, so some kind of attack or a natural disaster, but why didn't you tell me right away. If she ever has a nightmare you know my Grandpa needs to know about."

"Well...in her nightmare there...were two people that she saw. One was a tall man with long brown hair, he was dressed in black, and... wore a mask."

"And the other?"

"Well...that's the thing..." her eyes widened, "Popularity Squad at five o'clock!"

Before I could turned around to see the impending threat, I felt some one grab my shoulder and spin me around. My worst fear came true. It was the Popularity Squad, A.K.A, jerks of the school! The list included: 1) Andrew the absent-minded; a jock that was all muscles and no brains, his grades lived off of tutors. 2) Matt the Master-mind; he was also a jock but he was smart, and knew how to press people buttons. 3) Ashley, the Media Queen; She was the captain of the cheerleaders and fell into the picture perfect 'dumb blond' category (which was odd considering that she used bleach and everyone knew). she thought she knew everything about everyone.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here the Stray and Four-eyes." Matt hissed.

Yes, they call me Stray. Cats have a better chance of having Heterochromia iridium, and they know that I'm practically an orphan. So they call me Stray as in a mangy stray cat.

"What do you wimps have for lunch to day." Andrew said as he went for Cally's lunch box. 

I knew what he was going to do. Cally had allergies and most of the food at school could kill her. If Andrew threw her food out then she, wouldn't have anything to eat. I stood up and blocked him, shielding Cally.

"Ok, that's close enough. Don't ya'll have other people to torture?" Don't hurt them. Don't hurt them. Don't hurt them.

"What? Can't we be concerned in some of our schoolmates lives? We just want to make sure that dear Cally's lunch is safe to eat." Matt, said.

Concerned for her safety or want to watch her starve? "You don't have to worry about us. We're fine."

"OMG! Half-blind! Just get out of the way! It's none of your business anyway! Besides what are you going to do about it, you slut?" Ashley screeched.

Me? A slut? Says the girl who hooks up with a new guy every weekend. "Don't try me."

"Oh, a tough girl act? Real original. We all know your nothing but a wimp. Why don't you go cry to mommy for help. Oh, wait! That's right you don't have one." she smirked 

Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together.

"Nothing to say for yourself?" Matt said.

I took a deep breath and tried not to hurt them. "There's 15 minutes of lunch left. If ya'll don't want to be hungry for the rest of the school day, I suggest that ya'll head to the back of the line." I knew they didn't pack anything for themselves.

"Come on, guys." Ashely said, "Leave them to freeze their faces off in this flipping freezing corner!"

Popularity Squad left with out too much of a hassle but that just meant they would be getting their revenge later. I sat back down and noticed some frost on the table. Oh, shoot! I'm lucky they didn't see that.

"Are you alright?" I asked Cally.

"Yeah, I'm okay." she was shivering.

"Sorry, I should have controlled myself better." I didn't notice that I had lowered the temperature around us. Not that I can feel it, but I should've paid more attention to Cally's body language. 

"It's fine, those guys are jerks and they what they said was really out of line. Ashely doesn't have a mom either so she should know how much that could hurt you." she unscrewed her water bottle.

"That's where the similarities between me and her end, Cally. She's a spoiled brat. I swear one these days I'm going to snap at them!"

She sighed, "Well, my water isn't warm any more."

________________________________________________________________________________

I stared out of the window, it was raining that afternoon. Most people hate rain, but I prefer it. It's the perfect weather for these gloomy November days.

"Ms. Barnes!"

I snapped back into reality remembering that I was actually in a class. "Uh what?"

"Ms. Barnes, can you please explain how to solve, 6(x-3)= 2x + 8(7+x)?" said, Mrs. Turner, my math teacher.

I sighed. I hate explaining things, even if it was something easy for me to explain. "You start with getting ride of the parentheses, turning the problem into 6x-18=2x+56+8x. Then you add the like terms to simplify the problem, turning into, 6x-18=10x+56. Then you use addition and subtraction, to get answer to x. I would removed the smaller numbers, turning it into -18=4x+56, then into, -74=4x, then divided the problem by 4 to get the answer, -18.5=x."

"Correct, well done Ms. Barnes."

"Teacher's pet." I hear other people mumble.

I just ignore them and return to staring out the window. It's not like I'm going to miss anything to day, Grandpa had tutored me last year and kind of went overbroad, so I'm already ahead of everyone. I don't really have a 'Number's brain', I'm better at writing, but everyone one in my family does, at least on my mom's side. So if I'm having trouble help isn't too far away. 

"Ms. Barnes?"

I look up; Mrs. Turner was standing next to my desk. "Huh?"

"Sorry, did I interrupt a deep thought?"

"No of course not. What was the question?"

"Are you going to stay here for the rest of the day or are you going to go home?"

"What?" I look around to see the class room was empty. "no mam." I begin to pack up my things in a hurry.

"Northern? Are you alright?" Oh, no she used my first name. That either means I'm in trouble or things are about to get personal.

"Of course. Mrs. Turner."

"You don't have to lie to me Northern. I know it's a difficult and confusing time for you. With you losing your mother, and just being a teenager in general. You can always come to me Northern."

"That's kind of you Mrs. Turner, but I'm fine."

"You seemed to be daydreaming through most of you classes, and failing in history."

"I'm not going to be perfect in every class I take. I'm working on history."

"Door's always, just want you to know."

"Thanks I'll think about it." I hurried out the door.

I know she means well, but ever since she joined the school last month she's always kind of creeped me out. 

I brush off the feeling and continue down the hall. The halls are empty, I must have been sitting in, for a long time. I hope my ride isn't too mad. 

Suddenly I hear footsteps behind me. Some one grabbed my shoulder and shoved me up against the lockers. I open my eyes and glare at Andrew. He was pinning me to the lockers, pushing against my chest and neck. I couldn't breath.

"Easy, Andrew. We don't want her to suffocate." Said the squeaky high-pitched nasally voice of, the prissy 'perfect' spoiled brat, Ashely. "Besides watching her pass out isn't as fun." 

Andrew let me go. I slid down the lockers to the floor, coughing and gasping. I opened my eyes and Andrew's fist met my face. Then his foot when into my side. This beating continued for a few minutes.

"Stop that's enough. This is getting boring." Ashely said.

My mouth tasted like silver, my jaw was sore and I'm sure that my nose was bleeding. My sides ached as bruises began to form. It all hurt, but I didn't cry or beg for mercy. I wasn't going to get any, besides I had been through worse. 

Ashely squatted down grabbed my face and forced me to look at the mountains of make up that masked her face. "Why do you have to be so pathetic? No wonder you dad left you and your mom had to killed herself, just to be rid of you." 

Oh, no she didn't. "You're going to regret this." I said.

"Oh, am I?" she stood up, "Why are even going to do? You're nothing but a glove-wearing freak whose eyes couldn't even match." 

She glared at me, smugly, waiting for me to react. For me to scream and threaten her. I wanted too but I wasn't going to. I knew that's what she wanted, but I wasn't going to be stupid and give it to her. I just sat there, waiting for her to get bored and leave.

She scoffed, "Come on Andrew, let's go. This is just sad."

I knew it, I made her mad. She wanted me to scream and shout; to get angry. She wanted me to act out so she could go tell the principle and get me in trouble. All the physical pain she could cause was temporary, but she wanted to really hurt me. If she could get me on the school's bad side, then she could really hurt me. 

I stood up. My shoulder hurt, but I slung my bag over it anyway. If it wasn't broken or dislocated, I could ignore it. I wiped my nose on my sleeve and walked towards one of the side exits. I never left through the front, I never felt safe there.

"Hey!" said some one from behind me.

I glanced back. James. Why was he here? "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"My driver is really tired of all the crowds, so he'll be parked out back, half the time now. To give him a break. What are you doing here?"

"I can't stand crowds either, so one of my family members picks me up out back." He may have been popular, and friends with my bullies, (although by default), he didn't seem as bad.

"Really I didn't know that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Well, I'm not lying.

"Oh, really? What skeletons do you got in your closet?"

"Nice try, soldier boy."

"Don't worry I can keep a secret. Come on, I'll tell you one of mine. I keep a box of raisins in my jacket pocket."

Okay, I'm starting to see why girls like him. He's charming, but not my type.

We arrive at the exit at the back of the school. Grandpa was already there, as he had drove there many times, while James's driver didn't appear to have arrived yet.

"Hey Northy! I didn't know you had a boyfriend!" Grandpa shouted when he spotted us. "His record better be clean!"

"Grandpa!" I slapped my face. I love his goofiness, but sometimes it's really embarrassing. "No, he is not my boyfriend. You know I'm not that interested in those sort of things."

James, thankfully laughed it off.

"Oh? Then who is he? If he's bothering you my dear, don't worry I still got some connections in the police force." he climbed out of the run down farm truck, that he usually used to drive me home.

"Grandpa, please don't. Save your favors for when you need them."

"Well, I might as well meet your friend here. Christin River, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm Northy's, Grandpa." He held out his hand to James.

"Northy?" he looked at me.

"Only Grandpa gets to call me that, so don't get any ideas."

James smiled and shook Grandpa's hand, "James. James Rogers. Me and Northern talk sometimes."

Grandpa's eyes widened, "Wait Rogers? As in the Stars and Stripes kid?"

"Yes, sir." James answered, he seemed a little embarrassed.

"Well, That's quite a legacy, I didn't know that Northy had such a famous friend." Grandpa glanced at me, "I'm sure you got all the ladies chasing you." he playfully winked.

"Yeah, I do, but I don't really like all the attention. That's why I like Northern she doesn't chase me, while squealing."

"Northy has always been different. She's like her mom, she never chased after many boys either."

I froze, but I didn't show it. Grandpa almost never talked about Mom. Not unless he had a reason or knew that he could trust the person he was talking too, which usually was a family member. As friendly and out going as he seems, he was an introvert like me. Why was he was talking about Mom with James?

Suddenly a long black limo drove up. I guess being the son of heroes, and the honorary nephew of one of the most powerful men in the city, came with perks.

"Oh, that's my ride. See you later, Northern. Bye Mr. River. It was nice meeting you." James waved and walked to the limo.

"Well, he seems like a nice boy." Grandpa said as he started the truck. "With all the luxury he's been blessed with, it's nice to see that his parents aren't letting him become spoiled."

"Yeah, I guess he is. I don't know why he bothers talking with me though. He's got everyone in the schools attention."

"It's cause he likes you Northy. You treat person rather then a hero, and I'm glad you do. A kid his age shouldn't have to deal with all the attention he's getting. Any kid shouldn't have to deal with all the attention he's getting."

"I guess. But if he does like me he should, try and stop Ashely, Andrew, and Matt, from beating the living crap out of me and Cally." I moved some of my hair and showed him a part of my eyebrow that was starting to bruise. 

"He did that?"

"No. It was Andrew."

"Was he present?"

"No. It was Ashely giving the orders."

"He associates himself with them?"

"He never takes part in the bullying activity if that what's you mean, but he sit with them at lunch, and talks to them most of the time."

"Well, I guess that's by default. He doesn't seem like the type to pick on people. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, nothing more that I can't handle. I may have accidentally froze Cally's water bottle, but no one noticed."

"I was talking about your forehead."

"It's fine. Aunt Jet's given me worse."

"I tell her to be careful around your face today. Anything else that happened?"

"Mrs. Turner scared me."

"The math teacher? Is there something that you don't know?"

"No. I understood everything in class it's just, she snuck up on me."

"Oh, creepy."

"Yeah."

"Anything else?"

"Cally said her mom had a nightmare."

Grandpa grew silent, and his jokey smile turn into a very serious face. "Northern, tell me everything."

I explained everything to him. The shouts. The smoke. The man with long dark hair. Grandpa thought about everything I had said for a moment. 

"Who was the second person?"

"What?"

"You said that Cally's mom, saw two people in her nightmare. Who was the second person?"

"I don't know, We ambushed by the Popularity Squad before I could get that info."

"We need know."

"I'll call Cally tonight, an ask her about it."

"Good."

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, Northy?"

"Why did you talk about Mom with James?" 

Grandpa looked down, "Oh, I don't know Northy, he seemed like a good kid. I guess wanted to talk about her a little. I know it's been some time but I still miss her."

I felt really bad after asking this. Mom was his first blood child. Even though most of them were adopted, Grandpa Loved all of his kids, but Mom was the first. He had a special place in his heart for her and he was never the same after she died. It's been four years now and it still stings. I think it hurts him a little more because, Grandma, died, when mom was girl and he didn't want me to feel the pain of losing a mother too.

We finished the drive home in silence. Why did I have to ask him about it?

________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on Northern! I know you can hit harder then that!" Aunt Jet shouted.

Everyday, after I come home for the torture center that is school, I came home to one of my aunts or uncles for combat training. Today it was Aunt Jets turn, she had me sparing with her; with my gloves thankfully. 

Aunt Jet was a total knockout when it came to combat. She had started her training, six years after my mom started and still managed surpass her. According to Grandpa, before she was adopted, she lived in a very hostile environment. She was a rough kid that picked fights and won them. She stayed that way all her life. 

I had to quickly maneuver in-between The punches and kicks, that she sent flying at me and the ones I couldn't dodge I had to block. Up. Down. Left. Right. I waited for my opening and took the shot. My left leg, quickly swung up and hit her in the chest and chin. It knocked her to the ground. 

I relaxed; big mistake. Something, hit me across the crest, and kick my legs out from under me. My world spun around me, and the ground quickly rushed up to my face. My mouth tasted the cold soil of our outdoor training field.

"You let your guard down. Rule Number one..."

"NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!" I cut her off. I groaned and lifted myself off the ground. "I know! I know! I know! You've told me these rules over a thousand times!"

Aunt Jet stared at me, making me immediately regret shouting at her. Aunt Jet didn't take nonsense, or unnecessary emotion. 

"Northern? Are you alright?" 

"Yes, the fall didn't hurt to much."

"Northern?"

I took a starting stance, "I'm ready. Lets go."

"Northern."

"What are you waiting for lets start."

"Northern!"

"What?!"

She walked closer to me, "Northern, what's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong. Everything is fine." I didn't think I was lying, nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day. Kids at school were jerks, classes were the same, and my alarm clock didn't care about my dreams.

"Don't you lie to me child. What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer. 

"You're thinking about your parents again, aren't you." 

I didn't need to answer.

She sighed, "I know it's not easy without them, kid. But you can let them not being here stop you."

"I know. I know. I guess it's just something that Ashely said today; it got to me." 

Aunt Jet's face, tensed, "What did she said?" she gritted her teeth. 

Aunt Jet hated spoiled brats, like Ashely. She had to use a lot of self control into order to keep from clawing out rich entitled scums' eyeballs with her talons. Especially if they were messing with any member of her family. 

"She said, 'No wonder your dad left you and your mom had killed herself just to be rid of you'." I said a little quieter then I should have.

Aunt Jet's face grew red, and her fists clenched, "I'll kill her. I swear to whatever's out there I'll kill her! SHE'S CUT, BEAT, BULLIED, AND DIRESPECTED YOU! ALL THINGS I COULD FORGIVE BECAUSE YOU NEVER LET IT GET TO YOU, BUT THEN SHE HAS TO GO AND INSULT YOUR PARENTS LEGACY! I MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THAT CLOSE TO YOUR FATHER NORTHERN, BUT YOUR MOM CARED ABOUT HIM, AND I CARED ABOUT MY SISTER! SHE HAS CROSSED A LINE! AND SHE WILL REGRET IT!" she took a deep breath. 

Her entire body was tense and shaking with rage. Aunt Jet didn't like to show it, but she loved my mother. My mom was very excepting, when Aunt Jet first came to live with Grandpa and Grandma, and help her feel like she had a home. If she could, Aunt Jet would have traded placed with my mom in a heart beat, so she could be with me. Aunt Jet didn't care if she'd be dead.

"I'm sorry kiddo, I didn't mean to blow up at you. It's just that in her last few years, your mom just couldn't catch a break. With your deadbeat father ditching you two, and her being sick. It just burns me up that some one can be so spoiled and oblivious. Ashely's father has failed at being a parent, in my opinion." she deeply sighed.

"Please don't do anything rash." I asked.

"Don't worry kiddo, I won't. How bout we just skip to you power control training. I think your bruised up enough already."

I nodded and took off my gloves.

_______________________________________________________________________________

I sat in my darkened room, hunched over my homework. A small lamp on my desk lit the room. The window on my right was pitch black, and heavy rain pelted against the glass. I glared at homework, reading the task that I had to do for the tenth time. Who's idea was this garbage?

My eyes were straining, and my head was heavy with exhaustion. I leaned back against my chair, it creaked. A deep sigh, filled my lungs. 

"Work the problem North. Work the problem."

I lean back over my work and took a few more minutes to finish. I slammed my pen into my desk and walked towards the bathroom. A hot shower is exactly what I need. 

When ever I had to bath, I either had to wear gloves and socks, or have really, really, REALLY hot water, so it wouldn't freeze when it hit my skin. Tonight I didn't feel like dealing with soaking gloves and socks, so when I left the bathroom a thick cloud of steam came with me.

Wrapped in a towel, I made my way to my room and slipped into the P.js I had worn the previous night and my night time gloves and socks. Flopping onto my bed, I turned on the communicator, that my Aunt Rachel made for me. She had made everyone in the nearby mutant community one of these, so we all could keep in touch. I looked for Cally's contact. I sent a message to her. She replied right away, and called me.

My communicator, began to vibrate and beep. I pressed answer and a hologram screen of where she is appear above the com. 

"Hey North, what's going on?"

"Nothing much, I'm tired."

"You look like you are. Did your Aunt work you really hard today?"

"No, but Ashely and Andrew pinned me in the hall after math class."

"What?! Are you serious? Why didn't you call me earlier? Are you hurt?" 

"Calm, down Cally. I'm fine, physically at least."

"What do you mean physically?"

"Ashely, said a few things that really struck a nerve."

"What were they about?" 

"My parents. Insulting their legacy and me mostly."

"Oh, that's a low blow. I don't know about your dad, North, but your mom was so nice. Ashely's got it coming. I don't know what it is, but its going to get her."

"That it, might be my aunt. I told her about it earlier and she was ticked."

"Or it could be your dad. If he's anything like you, I doubt that He would've let anyone insult your mom. Dead or alive." 

"To be honest, I don't know if my father would."

"I know it's been a while since you've seen him, but don't you know what you got from him?"

"A while? Try most of my life. I can't even remember his face, much less what he was like or what I got from him."

"Why don't you asked your family about it? He was your mom's lover, they should have known him, shouldn't they?"

"I have tried to asked Grandpa and my aunts and uncles, but they always become really quiet at the mention of him. All I know is that he wasn't a mutant and that he left me and mom when I around two."

"That's sucks. Why he'd leave you guys?"

"I don't know. Maybe, didn't tell him that she was a mutant and he didn't want a freak for a kid."

"Or maybe it was a Romeo and Juliet, situation! And your family hated his family! that would explain why they don't like talking about and why you don't know anyone from his side." 

"I doubt it. My mom wasn't the type of person who would fall head over heels for a guy at first glance. I think my family doesn't like him, because he left, my mom alone with me in her condition. Then again he might not have known she was sick."

"Still it's fun to fantasize. Maybe he had Heterochromia iridium too." 

"He didn't. That's one thing I know for sure. My mom had told me. He did had icy blue eyes though, well according to mom."

"Maybe there are some pictures you could find of him. With how much your Grandpa likes to use his old camera, your entire life is practically on film. I wouldn't be to surprised that he had a few pictures of him with your mom that he couldn't throw out." 

"There might be some in storage, but I've never looked." I took a deep breath. "Okay that's enough about me, what's been happening with you?"

"You mean besides my mom freaking out about her latest nightmare? Grades are fine, I have a book report, but that's not really a problem."

"What book did you get assigned?"

"That's the best part of it. It's students choice."

"Lucky." she laughed. "Which book you choose?"

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

"Haven't you read that one a thousand times?"

"Yes, but I don't care! I love it! You can try and stop me but you can't bring me down slytherin!" 

I laughed. Yes, I'm a slytherin, but not all of us are evil you know. We just get a bad rep. 

"I know I can't ravenclaw."

She giggled. I loved hearing her laugh, and it made me remember something.

"Oh, hey Cally."

"Yeah?"

"I told Grandpa about your mom's nightmare, and I was missing a an important part of it, because of The Popularity Squad."

"Oh, Whoops. What was it you need to know, I'll see if I can help."

"You said that she saw two people in her dream, but you only told me about that man with long hair and not the second person."

"Oh..." She grew quiet and began to fidget. She was hiding something.

"Cally? What's wrong?"

"Well...you see...the person...was..." 

"Cally? Who was is?"

"Northern...It was...you."


	2. Pictures, Possibilities, Panic (Northern)

I was lying on my bed. My earbuds in and the sound turned up. Listening to O.D.D by Hey Violet. Ever since Grandpa found out about Cally's mom's dream, and the fact that I was in it, he wouldn't let me leave the farm. It wasn't something that I really minded, it's not like I had anywhere else to go. It was Sunday so school wasn't really a problem. 

*knock knock knock* The door interrupted my thoughts. I turned my head and saw Cally. Since I couldn't leave the farm, she had convinced her mom to let her come over for a slumber party.

"Hey girl!" she said.

"Hey."

"How are you doing?" she sat on my bed.

"Being trapped in the house? Not too bad. Grandpa has become a little bit overprotective, but I know he's just worried."

"I'm sorry, if I never told you about mom's dream, you wouldn't be stuck."

"It's fine, and it's not your fault. You don't control your mom's dreams."

"True, so what's on the party agenda?"

"Pillow fight, Movies with Grandpa, and homemade Ice cream."

"Sweet!"

________________________________________________________________________________

My gloves were off and I held the small ice cream maker in my hands, while Cally was churning the mostly unfrozen ice cream. This was the best part of having ice powers in my opinion. 

"Is it hard yet?" I ask.

"For the hundredth time! No! North have some patience."

I laugh and Grandpa walks in, "Are you two done with that ice cream yet? I've got the living room all ready, complete with popcorn and extra pillows and blankets."

"You both are impossible!" Cally exclaimed, "No, it's not ready yet!"

"I could turn the temperature down." 

"Oh, no, I rather not be eating a frozen rock tonight. We're doing this the right way."

"You mean the slow way."

"Oh, shut up." 

We both ended up laughing.

"Well don't take to much longer, I hate for the movie to start with out you two." Grandpa said as he grabbed a bottle of juice, from the fridge.

"What's on tonight?"

"Transformers the Movie. The original cartoon one from the 80s, not the live-action ones." Grandpa said. He always loved showing us the older cartoons, of his day. Sure, they didn't look like the high definitions and the sound was a little weird but they were still fun, and grandpa loved showing them to us. So, how can we say no?

Mom loved watching them with us too. Before she died that is. I remember her helping us make hot chocolate and popcorn with her powers and, snuggle up with us. It was always the best thing of cold winter nights. Winter... She said it reminder her of Dad. Maybe he liked movie nights too.

"OK! North! it's done you don't have to keep freezing it." Cally said snapping me out of my thoughts.

I had accidentally over frozen the ice cream machine. A thick layer of white frost and icicles had formed around the little contraption. It looked white and spiky.

"Oops."

"Well, I guess we're chewing our ice cream."

________________________________________________________________________________

"Ok, you two up the stairs and into bed." Aunt Jet said, trying and failing to calm down our pillow fight. 

"Aww but Jet! we're having so much fun." Grandpa complained.

"Dad you need your rest and these girls have school in the morning." Aunt Jet said sternly.

"I'm not that old! Jet!" Grandpa retorted, sometimes he forgot that his body wasn't as young as his spirit was.

"Maybe Dad, but it's ten at night and everyone should be in bed." she walked out of the room, knowing that she didn't have to saying anything else. We weren't going to tick her off any more then she needed to be.

"Killjoy." Grandpa whispered to me and Cally.

"I heard that!" Called Aunt Jet from the hall.

Grandpa made a joking 'Oops' face, before laughing. "Alright, ya'll heard her. In bed missies. See ya'll in the morning." he grabbed his pillow and started for the door.

"Goodnight, Mr. River." said Cally and she crawled to her sleeping bag.

"Night Grandpa." 

Grandpa pretended to tip a hat to us, flipped the light switch, and then left the room. All in his red and white fleece polka-doted pajama pants, and transformers t-shirt. He's such a goof ball.

Me and Cally waited, until we heard Aunt Jet turn in for the night and the hall way lights to go out. 

I opened one of my eyes, "You got a light?"

Cally looked up, a mischievous smile etched on her face, she pulled a large glow stick out from under her pillow, "Of course I do." She slipped out of her sleeping bag and climb up on to my bed. "Are you going to do it?"

I looked around making sure that there was no one but me and Cally awake; I had to be sure. The long white glove, that nearly went to my shoulders, was gently slipped off, leaving my hand bare. I took a deep breath and focused. A gentle milky blue glow, began to surround my hand, and delicate white frost began to creep across my fingertips and nails. A large snowflake crystalized above my hand, it's six sharp points sparkled as it twirled around my fingers.

"Wow, I never get tired of this." Cally whispered. 

I can't blame her, my powers can be beautiful, but she's never seen how destructive they can be.

"Man, I am so jealous right now."

"You still could manifest powers, you're not too old."

"No I'm pretty sure I'm normal, like my father. Mom just didn't pass on any mutant genes to me. The chances were always against me, anyway."

"Don't say that, I had the same chance. My father didn't have mutant genes either."

"No, North you were pretty much guaranteed powers. While your dad might not have had powers, your mom was from a pure-breed mutant bloodline. My mom was a halfling, and my dad was normal, the chances of me having powers were much lower then yours."

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry."

"Why? it's not your fault."

"I shouldn't being showing off my powers when you should have them too."

"It's fine, You can't help being from a pure-breed line."

"Cally, I'm not a pure-breed and practice was abandoned ages ago."

"Yeah, I guess you're technically a half-breed, and I'm a squib."

We both started giggling, "Are you really making a Harry Potter reference right now?" 

"And why not? It's true. Dolorous Umbridge would hate us."

"Yeah, with especially how unruly we can be."

We sat there in silence for a few moments, just staring at the shimmering snowflake in my hand. 

"So, did you look?"

"What?"

"Did you look?"

"Look for what?"

"For pictures."

"Pictures of what?"

"Pictures of your father. You said there might be some in storage."

"I didn't look."

"Why?"

"Because, he left me and mom. I don't need to know to any more. Besides if my family doesn't talk about him, they must have a reason."

She got up from the bed and started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To storage."

"Cally, don't. What if you get caught?"

"Come on, Northern. You can't tell me your not a little bit curious about your father. Besides we might find some pictures of your mom."

I sighed, and slipped my glove back on, "Ok."

We snuck into the dark hallway and were careful to not step on the older pieces of wood in the floor. The entrance to storage was in one of the closets in the living room on the first floor. An odd place I know, but Grandpa's farm house, like him, isn't normal.

We slipped into the closet. Moving the coats hanging inside we crept through a small door on the back wall. On the other side was a small metal ladder. It went two ways, up to storage, that was in-between the third and fourth floors and down, into the bunker, where most of the gadgets and other things for missions were kept.

"Try not to slip. There's an alarm system on the bunker entrance." I tell Cally as I climb on to the ladder.

"An alarm? Why?" Cally asked as we climbed up.

"Because some of the relics from Mom's, and a few of Grandpa's, missions are still down there. A lot of them are considered dangerous, so Grandpa put the alarm there so they can't fall into the wrong hands."

"Oh...How dangerous?"

"I'm not sure, Grandpa doesn't let me go down there. So, whatever it is, it must be be something big."

We made it to storage. It was dark and smelled musty. My hand felt along the back wall and quickly found the light switch. *Click* A small yellow light, flicked on, lighting the low ceiling and dusty walls of storage in it's warm glow. The room was filled with boxes and old furniture, all of them coated with a thick layer of dust. 

"Whoa," Cally breathed, as she climbed from the ladder.

"I know."

"Where do we start?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't think this is even organized."

"Well anywhere seems good, then."

Me and Cally looked through the boxes, careful to put everything back into their places when we were done, and not make to much noise. Sure, there was a whole floor in between up, but its better being cautious over being caught. I went through five boxes, nothing. 

"You find anything?" Cally asked.

"No, all of the photos are of my aunts and uncles as kids, and a few of my Grandma. At least I know where I got my freckles, now." 

"hmm." Cally closed the box she was going through. "Maybe were looking in the wrong places."

I closed the box and walked a little deeper into the storage. The boxes all looked the same. How does Grandpa even find things up here? He has no problem finding the Christmas decorations, every year. 

I glanced to the right and something caught my eye. It was small and white. I went towards it. It was blocked by some boxes but I easily slid them aside. It was my old crib. It was covered in dust and withered with time, but I could still recognize it. I slid my hand across the pearly painted wood. The last time I had seen this, was before my father left. I may not remember my father's face, but I haven't forgotten him. I glanced up, a small pale blue box rested behind the head of the crib.

"Hey Cally?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I found it."

She quickly dropped what she was looking at and joined me. I grabbed the pale blue box, dusted it off and gently slipped off the lid. Inside were piles of pictures. I gently pulled one out and flipped it over. It was Mom. There she was, she was a few years younger then I remember her, but it was her. Her fair skin, her long dark hair, her bright hazel eyes, and her large sparkling smile. She was so perfect. She didn't deserve what happened to her. 

"Wow. She looked just like you North."

"I miss her," my eyes began to water.

Cally put her arm around me, "I know."

I whipped my eyes, and pushed the memories down. I can't be crying now. "Come on, Let's see what else we can find in here. And...uh...Cally?"

"Yeah?"

"You can let go of me. I don't want you to freeze and you're already shivering."

She quickly unwrapped her arm and began to rub it. "Thank you. I was starting to feel numb. You're colder then I thought."

We laugh and continue to look through the box. We mostly found, pictures of mom, me (when I was much younger of course) and Grandpa was sprinkled through out a couple, but no sign of my father. Maybe my family really did get rid of all of the pictures of him after he left mom and me. I guess they couldn't stand looking at him. Leaving, was practically considered betrayal, and you don't betray my family. Not if you didn't want to, at best get shunned or at worse hunted down. And yes, I'm aware we might have issues.

I looked at my watch we had been up here for over an hour. We needed some sleep tonight if we wanted to do moderately in school tomorrow.

"Cally, should go back to bed. This was waste of time."

"Maybe you're right. Your family probably got rid of all the photos anyway." 

I put the box down and something shiny caught my eye. I dug back into the box. There it was, in all of it's silvery glory. My mom's locket. On it's long glassy chain rested a silver rhombus that was lined with rhinestones and pearls, with a black snowflake printed on the front. It shimmered the warm colored light as I held it by its chain.

Cally turned around and stared wide eyed at it. "Oh my gosh, is that what I think it is?" she whispered.

I nodded, to shocked to answer with words. Mom never took this off. I remember seeing her fiddle with it on multiple occasions. 

"Do you know what's inside of it?" Cally asked.

I shook my head. I never knew what was inside of it, or if it even had something inside of it. Mom never showed me and I hadn't seen this since she died. I had always assumed that it was buried with her. I guess Grandpa couldn't do it. 

"Well, then open it," Cally whispered.

My fingers slipped down the chain to the locket charm. I gently pressed on the sides making them separate. The sides slowly and silently opened. Inside, was a picture of Mom, me as a toddler, and...a man...a familiar man... 

He had brown hair that was held back in a scrunchie that mom had clearly even to him. Icy blue eyes , and a shiny smile. It was him. It was my father.

"So, I think we can confirm that you have one of his eyes." Cally said.

"Yeah... I guess we can." I didn't really hear her. For a moment I forgot I was living, that all of this was real. It was like a someone had paused existence. 

"Are you okay?"

"He looks so happy. Why did he leave?"

"I don't know. Did he go on any sort of trip and get lost?"

"He might have. I remember he was always going on trips. I think Mom said they were for work."

"Did he work of your Grandpa, in the family business? like your mom, did," Cally asked.

Grandpa's family business, was half superhero work, half spy work and often included traveling for long periods of time. Let's just say not all of those trips ended well. With how much Mom was involved, it wouldn't be too hard to believe that she got my father a job.

"She did say that it was work, but she never said what kind of work." I answered.

"So, Maybe or maybe not."

"Yep, pretty much."

"He doesn't look like the type to get into to much trouble."

"And my Aunt Sal looks like a literal pixie, yet has the longest criminal record in the family."

"Good point. I guess we can't know."

"Yeah..."

"Hey at least we found him."

"Yeah...I guess we did...Come on. We should get to bed so we're not zombies tomorrow."

Cally nodded and started back towards the ladder. I was going to join her but I couldn't stop staring at them. We looked so happy. I tried, I tried and I tried to remember a moment we had spent together. But I couldn't. 

I slipped back to my room. I was probably tired, but I honestly felt sad and confused. Why would he leave? Honestly, why? My mom wasn't one to swoon over a guy easily, she must have seen in him. Didn't he care? Didn't he care about, her? About me? Why was I thinking about this now? I never cared about what happened to him before. I sighed deeply, and laid back down onto my bed. These questions swirled around in my mind, until they made me so tired I fell into a deep deep sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on! North are you almost done?!" Cally called from down the hall. 

My demon clock for some reason decided not to go off this morning, so we were running late.

"I'm coming, just a second!" I shouted back as I finished braiding my hair. Grabbing my bag, I quickly run through the halls down the stairs and bursting out the front door.

"About time!" Cally shouts as she gets on her bike.

"Sorry!" I grab my bike and we both ride towards school.

Sure, we're running late and it would probably be better to take a car, but neither of us have a driver's license yet, and all of my family were currently busy. Aunt Jet and Grandpa were at a business meeting and Uncle Shaw was sent out on a mission yesterday morning and won't be back until late tonight. 

Suddenly, I hear beeping from Cally's watch. "Cally?"

"It's eight!"

"Aww man!"

"Were going to get suspended! Because of an alarm clock!" 

________________________________________________________________________________

Me and Cally managed to avoid getting in trouble, but its didn't save us from the horror that is history class. I don't know why I hate this class so much. The dates, the years. Nothing ever stuck. Especially with the way Mr. Mitchel teaches. I'm not surprised more people don't zone out or just straight up fall asleep. 

"North?" Cally whispered. We were sharing a desk.

I looked up.

"Ms. Barnes?" Mr. Mitchel said. 

"Umm, what?" I said.

Mr. Mitchel let out a really, really loud and really, really, REALLY long sigh. "Ms. Northern Barnes, can you please explain the reason that the U.S government would allow Dr. Abraham Erskine, a Germain scientist to continue his work on Project Rebirth?"

"Umm." Quick think of an answer that doesn't sound stupid.

"Ms. Barnes?"

"Umm." *ring!!!!* I eternally sigh with relief. Thank you bell.

"I'll be expecting your answer next time we meet, Ms. Barnes. Don't forget." he continued to stared at me.

"Of course, sir." I quickly grab my books and me and Cally book it.

"Man, he is intense." Cally said.

"No kidding." I said. "I need to grab something from my locker before the next class, you need anything?"

"No, I think I got everything."

"You sure?"

"Well...It wouldn't hurt to check."

I giggled. She is always so nervous about losing her books. We got to our lockers; we were across the hallway from the each other. 

"So, what do you got next?" she asked.

"Biology, nothing too difficult. You?" I answered.

"French."

"Oh... Parlez vous francais?"

"Oui mademoiselle." she checked her bag. 

"Do you have everything?"

"Yep. I don't need anything from here." she looked down the hall, "Would you look at that."

I turned away from my locker, and there he is. James Rogers, and the tsunami of fans that followed him. Man, he can't go anywhere by himself.

"Oh, boy. We're about to get swamped." I said.

"Yeah, but you can't blame them. He sure is handsome." Cally said.

"Oh no. Don't tell me that you're also one of his fangirls. I don't know if we could still be friends."

"Very funny. All of these people just have a passing fancy, they'll get over it and don't worry about me. I know better than to chase after someone who is way out of my league."

"Hey, first of all, you are my best and only friend, I have to worry. Second of all you're the one who's way out of his league."

She laughed, "Aww. That's so sweet. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Don't get use to it."

She laughed again.

"Hey, Northern." Said James.

I looked up. Why is he coming over here?

"What do you need James?"

"I just thought I'd say hi."

I heard Cally giggling and gave her a look of 'why?'. 

"Why do you talk to me James?"

"Because I like you North. Is that really hard for you to believe?"

"It's difficult for me to believe in anything."

"Wow..."

"What? I thought you liked my honesty."

"I do but...Northern, that's really depressing."

"You don't have to tell her." Cally interjected.

"No one asked for your opinion." I said.

She laughed knowing I was joking.

"I'm sorry who are you?" James asked.

"Oh, I'm Cally Dickson. Northern's friend." Cally said.

"Oh, are you new to the school?"

"No, I sit behind you in chemistry, and English... and Math. And we've shared classes ever since kindergarten."

"Oh..."

Man this is awkward. 

"Well...Uh...I got to go. Class can wait you know." James said, before he started to walk off.

Smooth real smooth.

"So, you still think he's cute?" I asked.

"Really?" Cally said.

"He didn't even know you existed."

"Yeah, but too be fair. Most people don..." she never got to finish that sentence.

Suddenly the walls caved in. A loud explosion rang. I felt my body being blown across the hall and my back hitting something solid. Everything ached. My head was spinning. My ears were ringing. What just happened? Was I just blown up? By who? And Cally... Wait... Where's Cally?

"Cally!" I called out to her, before coughing violently. My chest hurt. I must have gotten the wind knocked out of me.

"North! I'm over here!" she coughed. She must have been thrown around too.

I opened my eyes. The walls were a crumbling mess and rubble littered the floor. A heavy cloud of dust swirled in the air. Coughing, I pulled myself up; nothing felt broken. I saw Cally, she was still on the ground, and stumbled over to her. 

"Cally, you alright?" I coughed, and extended my hand to help her up.

"Yeah, Mostly. My leg hurts a little, but I think I can walk." She coughed and grabbed my hand.

I pulled her up and looked over her. She was covered in cuts and bruises and her hair was a mess, but nothing too serious.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I don't know." Shots were fired and I heard people screaming. I turned back to Cally, her eyes wide. "We can't stay here." 

She nodded, and we took off down the hall. 

Before every turn and corner I would stop, and pressed my back against the wall. I never turned my head to look, I don't need to. Cally also noticed this. I should have told her. 

"North your not even looking." She whispered, then it slowly dawn on her, "Unless..."

"Yeah...I do."

She looked at me, clearly shocked and maybe a little hurt. "Why didn't you tell...?" 

"I wasn't supposed to."

The truth is, being a human freezer isn't my only power. I was one of the very few who was blessed with a very rare second gift. Mind sight. I don't really know how describe it, but basically I don't really need my eyes to see. I can go down the hall, with out ever moving. It's rare and it's powerful. So, rare that there's at most three people are born with this gift every generation, and that only happens if my people are lucky. I can't even tell others about it, for there safety and mine. Only my Grandpa knows, as he passed the gift on to me. 

We continued down the halls. To be honest, I didn't know where to go. I didn't know where was safe. All I knew was that we had to keep moving, we had to hide, we had to survive.

"North, Stop." Cally pulled me behind some lockers. 

I was slightly confused. She had seen something down the hall. I closed my eyes and the slightly distorted view of the world, came into my vision. There they were. Soldiers. All in green, all heavily armed, all wearing a very familiar symbol. H.Y.D.R.A. 

I came back to my eyes and body. I couldn't see myself, but I was sure I whiter than a ghost. My aunts and uncles had told me stories of some of the H.Y.D.R.A bases they raided. I didn't sleep well on those nights. 

"What are they doing here?" Cally whispered, clearly scared.

"I don't know. Last I checked they don't deal with high school drama. They must be after something."

"What? What would they be after here?"

H.Y.D.R.A, they were an organization, bent on power, world domination, supremacy and elitism. So they would be looking for something that would give them an edge. Something that would be able to hurt their enemies. Something... that's it.

I looked back at Cally, she was shaking and scared. She wasn't cut out for the world she was born into. She was for the normal world not the mutant one. It broke my heart to see her like this.

"Ok, stay here and stay low." I handed her my bag, and took off my gloves.

"What are you going to do?" 

"What I was trained for."

"What if they hurt you or worse?"

"Then I'll finally see mom again. Now I need you to stay safe."

She nodded. Her bright blue eyes swelling with fear. In a way I envy her, that she can to do this. She can show fear, she can feel. I can't do that without possibly hurting someone or worse. There are times I wish I could, but now I needed to not show it.

I ran from our hiding place making it look like I just rounded the corner by chance. The soldiers turned towards me. The burning red eyes in there green skull like masks were intimating, but I put on a blank face. I couldn't let them see what I was thinking.

"Look at this." One murmured. 

"Do you think she's a mutant?" another spoke.

I took a fighting stance. They seemed amused. Only if they knew what was coming. The closest began approaching me. I almost felt sorry. I sent one of hands towards his face to make him flitch, before thrusting my other into his face. He tried swing at my left, but I quickly blocked him and forced my right elbow into him. I grabbed his shoulder and kneed him in the abdomen. He fell to the ground, groaning in pain and half-conscious. The entire fight lasted less then five seconds.

"Anyone else?" I asked.

They pulled the very large guns in there hands and fired. I was quick to react and created an ice shield. It wasn't smooth or shiny, but it worked for a little while. I opened my eyes; it had begun to crack. Time to move. 

I pulled one of my hands behind my back and formed an ice dagger. I took a deep breath and dropped my shield. I jumped, dodged the shots, ran up the wall, flipped, and used my body wait to kicked the closest guy in the face (I am pretty heavy, due to how much I train. He didn't really stand a chance of remaining conscious). 

With half of there numbers on the ground. I move on to the third. He tried to shot me but I froze the barrel of his weapon over, making unable to fire. My hand was thrusted across his face, my dagger spilt his mask and slicing his face open. He dropped to he ground, screaming in pain.

The forth completely dropped his gun and pulled a sword from the belt tied to his waist. Ok, mortal combat, nothing I haven't been trained for. He lunged forward with his sword in hand. I slipped out of the way and let my finger barely graze the blade. It froze almost instantly, not that he noticed. I continued to keep dodging his swings until I got him to accidentally stab the wall. The blade, brittle thanks to my powers, shattered on impact. He stared at me, clearly shocked.

Then it was my turn. I gave him a sickly sweet simile. He seemed mad. He dropped the handle and, rushed me. Left punch, I blocked, right hook, I blocked, Left jab, busted my lip. I dropped down and kicked his legs out from under him. I jumped on and pinched the nerves in his neck. He was out cold.

I was standing in the middle of my school's halls, surrounded by unconscious, H.Y.D.R.A agents. Blood coated the floor. This was not how I thought my school week would start.

"Cally! come out ! we need to move!" I shouted.

Cally slowly crawled out from behind the lockers. Her eyes were wide. She was clearly unnerved by all this. She wasn't use to all the blood, the violence and the injuries, like I was. She slowly handed me my gloves and bag, never taking her eyes off of what was around her.

"You okay?" I asked. 

She slowly nodded. "I knew that you were trained to be a badass...but North... this is..."

"You don't have to say it. I know. I don't like to do it, but I'm good at it, and I don't regret learning. Not now at least."

She nodded again, "yeah."

"Come on we need to move." I grabbed her hand and started to run again. 

"Why are they here?"Cally asked.

"James!"

"What?"

"They're after James! His old man, was a real pain in H.Y.D.R.A's neck back in the day. They want to get to him through James!"

"But James is innocent! He never did anything to H.Y.D.R.A!"

"That doesn't matter! Rule number one, find your opponent weakness then use it against them! If they can't hurt the great Captain America directly, they'll hurt him through James!" 

We encountered more agents. These guys were everywhere. I was busted up. Bruises and cuts on my body, my lip was busted, and I was defiantly going to have black eye tomorrow. Eventually, one of them got the upper hand on me. This group ambushed us, I didn't have the time to take off my gloves. It was just me and my fists. This guy managed to pin me down. This was it! I was either going to be capture or killed. And in front of Cally no less.

"Hey, get off of her!"

The agent was suddenly pushed off of me. I looked up. James? The fiery headed boy, jumped up, and tornado kicked the agent in the head. Poor guy, he fell to the ground unconscious. 

James turned back to me. "You okay Northern?" he offered his hand.

"Yeah, thanks for that," I took his hand.

"Whoa, are okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're covered injuries."

"I've been in mortal combat with H.Y.D.R.A agents. How am I suppose to look? freshly powdered?" I walked over to Cally and helped her up. She was shaking.

"Point taken...Wait why are you fighting these guys in the first place?"

"My Grandpa worked in the Police Force. Do you honestly think that he wouldn't teach his only grandkid to defend herself?"

"Okay, I get that but you shouldn't be fighting H.Y.D.R.A. My mom doesn't even want me fighting H.Y.D.R.A and she's the black widow."

"JAMES!!!" 

Oh, no. I'd that stupid voice anywhere. Ashely.

Ashley came running, from out of nowhere. She practically tackled James, fake tears running down her face. She was pulling on the complete damsel in distress act. I felt sorry for him.

"OH! JAMES THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!" She sobbed into his shirt, clearly faking.

"Ashely calm down we're not dead yet." James said, clearly uncomfortable. 

"BUT WE'RE PRACTICALLY SURROUNDED!!!! THEY HAVE ALREADY SHOT MULITPLE PEOPLE!! WHAT IF WE'RE NEXT!!?!?! WHAT IF WE DIE!?!!?! WHAT IF...!?"

"Ashely put a sock in it!" I shouted. I'm probably going to be beaten by her minions when this is all over, but I was done with her B.S.

She turned to me finally noticing I was standing there. She looked shocked. Yes, I'm standing here. Existing. Breathing.

She groaned, "Why didn't they shoot you?"

"Ashely!" James said, pushing her off of him.

"What? I just asking why the agents couldn't have been at least useful, and got rid of this waste of air."

"As much as we would not want to be with you, right now. We can't stay say here." Cally said.

"She's right." I said, "Come on. Cally and Ashely will stay in back, while me and James take front."

"Excuse me? What gave you the authority to give US" she gestured to her and James, "orders? Besides I can't run my heel is broken."

"Oh, My Gosh. Ashely use your brain. North and James will be taking the front because they can defend themselves. So, unless you're suddenly a blackbelt, I suggest you listen to her. And as for your heel, if it's 'unbearable' take your way to high shoes off." Cally said.

"No one for you opinion, Nerd," she turned back to James with the largest puppy dog eyes she could muster, "James can't we just leave two here? There being mean to me."

"Ashely it's my job to keep people and that mean I need to get as many people out as I can. Not leave them behind. We're staying with them." he answered.

"But, they're being so cruel to me."

"We're currently in a high-stress situation, no one's going to act like an angel. We're going with Northern's plan as it's well thought-out and easy to understand. Although I think that maybe I should take front. I don't want anyone to get anymore hurt then they already are."

"You don't have to worry about me James." I reassured him.

"No offence Northern, but some run of the mill self-defense training isn't going to cut it."

"Great conclusion, 007. But if you haven't noticed I'm doing just fine. We just need to get out of here."

"Doing fine? You're covered in bruises."

"And you don't look so much better." He was also beaten up a good bit.

"You should show him more respect." Ashely started, "You do know he's the son of..."

"Captain America. Yes, the whole world knows. You don't need to shout it to the heavens." I said and signaled to Cally to follow me. 

I jumped over a pile of debris. I stayed close to the right hand wall. Ready for anything to come and jump out at me. Before stopping at the edge of the wall. James soon joined me.

"Hey thanks." He said.

"For what?"

"For saying that who my dad is doesn't matter."

"And why would it? I thought that you liked running off of your dad's fame. You have one most luxurious lives in the country." 

"Actually I don't. Believe I love him, he's my dad how can I not, it's just everyone expects me to be him. It's difficult to make friends."

With the corner well checked. I moved on and everyone thankfully followed. But I wasn't going blow James off. I'm not that rude.

"Really, what about Ashely? You two seem very close."

"Ashely is pushy. I kind of have to get along with her by default because she's the mayor's daughter and I have to put on a good face for the Avengers. She's a little dramatic for my taste. I don't really like hanging out with her."

"What about everyone else? You're surrounded by people all day."

"All they want is an autograph. The only real friends I have are the ones at avengers mansion."

"Well, all I got is Cally, so welcome to the club."

"Really, Northern? You're lucky you have her. I envy you, actually."

"Why?"

"You and Cally. You're partners in crime. Sure, we're pretty tight nit at the mansion but we're not nearly as close as you two seem. It's hard to find a real friend like that." 

"I guess I..."

"Shush! back against the wall." James quickly whispered, cutting me off.

I close my eyes, I saw them. More Agents. They had even bigger guns, then the others. I glanced over at Cally, she saw my expression. She was even more frightened.

"We got six of them. Heavily armed." I quickly said.

"How do you know?" Ashely said.

Oh, Crap I can't tell them, "I got a feeling."

"Oh great were all going to die, because of a feeling. Give me cold hard facts Stray." Ashely whispered yelled.

"Ashely! Hush! you're going to get us caught." James snapped.

"So what's the play soldier boy?" I asked.

"I'll distract. You run."

"Not a chance. I'm trained and you can't take on at least six guys by yourself."

"I don't want you to get hurt Northern."

"I said don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

"No you stay here." He jump out from the corner.

I watched aimlessly, as James exchanged fists with the agents. I understood where he was coming from, but I couldn't just hide around. I couldn't take it anymore when he was knocked out and fell to the ground.

"Stay down." I whispered, to Cally and Ashely.

I leaped from the corner and striped off my gloves. I tackled one of them, ripped off his mask and cold burned his face. His screams of agony fill the hall way. I kept doing it until he went limp and Moved on to the others. I was ticked. Most people get hotter when they're mad. I get colder. 

By the end of the fight, all of them have busted uniforms and a bad case of deep frostbite. I went over to James, and nudged him with my foot. He groaned. I could see a lump on his forehead staring to form. Hope he doesn't have a concussion. I'd hate to wake him but we need to move. I very gently and very carefully touch the bump on his forehead. He woke up with a start. I don't know if it was from the pain, or the rapid change of temperature. He groaned again.

"you okay?" I start to put my gloves back on.

"Yeah, My head hurts like heck."

"I'd say so. A gun was slammed into it."

"Wait what?" He looks around finally noticing the bodies surrounding us. He glances at me shocked.

"I told you I was trained." I reached down with my only gloved hand.

"You are full of surprises, aren't you?" grabbed my hand And I pulled him up.

Suddenly we heard screams. Cally... I ran back down the hall. My stomach dropped the moment I saw. Cally was currently In the hands of H.Y.D.R.A agent, his gun point right at her. She was crying and I was angry. Ashely was captured too but I really didn't care. I slipped off the only glove I was wearing. I didn't care if Ashely or James saw me, they were scaring Cally. They were going to die.

"Hey!" I heard a deep rough voice call from behind, them. 

They turned. A man with a metal arm, long brown hair, and dressed in all black. The man dressed in black! The one from Cally's Mom's Dream. Everything clicked. This was the event she had dreamt about.

"Step away from the Children!" He spoke again. He made eye contact with me; he seemed to freeze, for a second.

"Uncle Bucky?" James Said. 

Uncle Bucky? I looked at James, confused. Then another thing clicked. Oh, shoot! That was Bucky from the Avengers. Since James lived with them like family it made sense he'd have pet names for them. And it was about time they showed up.

"Ah the winter soldier." One of the agent spoke. Dam! that's a badass name. "I was wondering if you would actually show up especially considering our target." 

"I don't go by that name anymore. Now step away from them." his metal fist clenched.

The man in black, Bucky, quickly rushed the man that was holding Ashely hostage. He was on the ground in seconds. The Agent that was holding Cally, opened fired. James jumped in and got the gun away from him, while Bucky grabbed Cally and shoved her against the wall. The Agent That had had Ashely grabbed the Gun and was about to fire. I ran forward and sent and frost beam towards the barrel. It collect with the shot and the world went white.

I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry. Dust was everywhere. My body ached. All I could hear was ringing. I had been blown up twice today. I was done with it. 

My vision cleared and my heart dropped. Protruding a pile of rubble was a very pale hand, a pool of blood underneath it. A bright pink watch was tied around the wrist. It was Cally's. I lifted myself up and grabbed her hand. I wasn't wearing my gloves. It immediately turned red and burned, but it didn't jump. She was gone. Cally was gone.

My hearing returned, someone was screaming but I barely heard them. Everything was spinning. Tears began to run down my face. I wanted to puke. This couldn't be real. I had to be dreaming. A jolt of white hot pain, flashed across my cheek. I looked up to see Ashely cover in cuts and dust.

"YOU STUPID STRAY!!! YOU BLEW US ALL UP!! AND I SHOULD YOU WERE A MUTANT FREAK TOO! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT! OR LOCKED UP IN A LAB WHERE FREAKS LIKE YOU BELONG!" she slapped me again.

I couldn't even be mad at her. My world was still struggling to pull itself together. I just got up and ran. I ran outside, grabbed my bike and left. Nothing could stop me. I pedaled relentlessly. I never felt tired adrenaline pumped through my veins. My tears froze to my face and my hair began to turn white with frost. 

As soon as I got back to the farm I jumped off my bike and ran the rest of the way. I burst through the door and ran into the house.

Aunt Jet came down stairs at the noise, "What's going on?"

I collapsed into her arms, sobbing. My legs felt weak and we sank to the floor. Cally was gone. Those word rang in my head. She couldn't be gone. I couldn't talk. I could barely think. Aunt jet kept asking me what had happened, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. Grandpa came running down the stairs and joined in our hug. 

My face became covered in frost and soon the floor and their clothes were too. We were there for a long time, or it could have been a few minuets, but either way it felt like hours. They asked me again.

"Cally's dead."


End file.
